{"id":58300,"date":"2020-02-10T15:00:30","date_gmt":"2020-02-10T09:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/?p=58300"},"modified":"2021-02-11T18:43:45","modified_gmt":"2021-02-11T13:13:45","slug":"amit-malviya-how-ringmaster-of-bjps-propaganda-machinery-weaponises-misinformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.altnews.in\/english-clone-2026\/amit-malviya-how-ringmaster-of-bjps-propaganda-machinery-weaponises-misinformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Amit Malviya: How the ringmaster of BJP’s propaganda machinery weaponises misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

On January 15, 2020, Amit Malviya, national in-charge of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) IT cell, shared a video of a random group of persons insinuating that the women of Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh are protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) for money. His allegation was found baseless by a collaborative Alt News-Newslaundry<\/em> investigation<\/a>. But this hardly discouraged Malviya.<\/p>\n

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Shaheen Bagh protest is sponsored… \u0938\u093e\u0930\u093e \u0915\u093e\u0902\u0917\u094d\u0930\u0947\u0938 \u0915\u093e \u0916\u0947\u0932 \u0939\u0948… pic.twitter.com\/JOKIO2qK7P<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) January 15, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Two days hence, he shared a photograph of an elderly man eating biryani<\/em> at Shaheen Bagh. In a bizarre tweet<\/a>, Malviya wrote,\u00a0“Proof of Biryani being distributed at Shaheen Bagh!”<\/em> Was the BJP leader alluding that the act of eating food at a protest site is an offence or morally incorrect? Should the protesters be participating on empty stomachs? Only he can answer.<\/p>\n

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Proof of Biryani being distributed at Shaheen Bagh! pic.twitter.com\/ylwnjJr2oy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) February 5, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Malviya’s misleading tweets are not limited to Shaheen Bagh. Alt News has been monitoring his social media presence for a while now and has found that he repeatedly uses misinformation to discredit individuals, communities, opposition parties, leaders and movements. With him being the official ring leader of BJP’s online propaganda machinery, the misinformation promoted by Malviya has a dangerous ripple effect. His false claims are echoed by party members and supporters of the BJP thus giving rise to large-scale misinformation campaigns.<\/p>\n

MISINFORMATION TARGETING ANTI-CAA PROTESTS<\/h2>\n

1. Falsely claimed that anti-CAA protesters in Lucknow chanted ‘Pakistan Zindabad’<\/h3>\n

On December 28, 2019, Malviya tweeted a video of anti-CAA protest at Lucknow’s Clock Tower and claimed that ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogans were raised in the rally.<\/p>\n

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Since this is a season of pulling out old videos, here is one from Lucknow where anti-CAA protestors can be seen raising \u2018Pakistan Zindabad\u2019 slogans… Damn! Someone needs to have a samvaad with them and ask them to carry tricolour and Bapu\u2019s picture for the cameras next time… pic.twitter.com\/Lvg7sj2G9Z<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) December 28, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Alt News found that the claim was false. The protesters did not raise pro-Pakistan slogans but said \u2018Kashif saab zindabad\u2019. Kashif saab aka Kashif Ahmad is the\u00a0Lucknow AIMIM chief<\/a>. In a conversation with Alt News, AIMIM UP president Haji Shaukat Ali informed that Kashif Ahmad was leading the December 13 protest. In a conversation with Alt News, AIMIM UP president Haji Shaukat Ali informed that Kashif Ahmad was leading the December 13 protest.<\/p>\n